Two Rivers property tax bills available online

Misplaced your property tax bill? Want to know the exact tax bill for a property that you are considering purchasing? Want to view the personal property tax bill for your business?

Copies of the 2014 tax bills for all real property (5,065 parcels) and all taxable personal property (417 accounts) are now available in a searchable PDF file on the city’s website, www.two-rivers.org.

Click on the related announcement and you can search for bills by property owner name or street address. The search process is a little slow, but still faster than calling City Hall and requesting a copy of a bill. Plus, the information is available 24/7.

Property assessment information continues to be available online — go to the city website and click on “Assessment and Tax Information” under the “Services” tab. Assessing records can be looked up only by street address.

They tend to get blown into the street during windy conditions, and can pose traffic hazards.

Edgewater Terrace project

Representatives of Wisconsin Housing Preservation Corporation (WHPC), a Wisconsin-based non-profit that owns more than 7,000 units of affordable family and senior housing around Wisconsin, met with the city council in a work session held on Monday.

WHPC, which purchased the Edgewater Terrace Apartments at 2812 Seventh Street in early 2014, is seeking financing for a $1.6 million renovation project at the 40-unit apartment complex, built in the 1970s.

Tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) are integral to the project’s financing. Credits are awarded through a competitive process, and WHEDA this year is giving preference to projects that include an element of local public funding.

Accordingly, WHPC and the city staff have recently discussed the possibility of amending the boundaries and project plan for Tax Incremental District (TID) No. 10, created in 2014 to assist with redevelopment of the Paragon plant and other nearby properties, to include Edgewater Terrace. (The apartment complex is located right across Seventh Street from the Paragon property.)

Any TID participation in this project will require not only city approval, but approval by a Joint Review Board with representatives from all local taxing entities.

This is a project worth considering, as it would not only result in a major upgrade of a older housing complex, but would return the property to the tax rolls.

Edgewater Terrace, on the tax rolls through 2013 with an assessed valuation of $874,000, became tax-exempt this year when sold to the non-profit WHPC.

There will be further public dialogue and a formal public hearing on City participation in this project, if it moves ahead.

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a great year in 2015. Celebrate safely.

Two Rivers City Manager Greg Buckley may be contacted by calling (920) 793-5532 or by emailing gbuckley@two-rivers.org.